London 2012 Olympics: James Ellington awaits identity of eBay bidder who pledged to sponsor him £32,500

British sprinter James Ellington admits he has no clue about the identity of
the anonymous ebay bidder who has pledged £32,500 to sponsor him between now
and the London Olympics, though he is hopeful the mystery will be solved on
Monday.

Up for sale: James Ellington put his commercial sponsorship deal on eBay in order to help him realise his dream to compete at London 2012Photo: Getty Images

Ellington, 26, said he “couldn’t be happier” after his bold decision to auction himself on the ebay website in attempt to raise sponsorship attracted a total of 71 bids before the 10-day auction period closed on Saturday.

The winning bid was £2,500 higher than his £30,000 reserve — the minimum amount he calculated he needed for training and travel, kit and basic living expenses during the build-up to the Olympic Games.

In return for the money, Ellington has promised to wear the winning sponsor’s branded kit, though he admits he has absolutely no idea whether the successful bidder is a company or a person.

“I’m assuming it’s a company, unless it’s a very rich individual,” he said. “It’s still a mystery to me and I’m looking to finding out who it is.

“I couldn’t be happier right now. I’m just hoping that the highest bidder is genuine. Hopefully, we’ll find out who it is when the ebay offices open.

“Even if it isn’t genuine, there are so many other bids around the £31,000 mark anyway, so I’m sure there are a lot of genuine bids in there. If it does turn out to be a hoax, then I’ll move on to the next highest bidder.” Ellington, from Lewisham in south London, said the money would enable to him concentrate on his training and scale back on his part-time coaching job.

Long-standing injury problems meant he missed out on Lottery funding, though he insists he is now fully fit. He already has the 200 metres ‘A’ Olympic qualifying standard in after clocking 20.52sec in Metz in June.

“This enables me to put in 100 per cent effort by focusing solely on my training instead of having to cut short sessions because I have to rush off to go to work,” he said.

“It’s now all about putting the work in and getting in as many quality training sessions as I possibly can between now and the trials. I then just need to make sure I finish in the top two and get in the Olympic team.” He added that one of the first things he would be spending the money on was a warm-weather training camp in Florida.

“The idea of the auction was a bit of a punt really, but it paid off,” he said. “I’m surprised with the outcome and the response.”